Fox News host Geraldo Rivera said the tone of the immigration debate has “created a slanderous condition and environment in our country” for all Latinos, regardless of immigration status or citizenship.Read full article

I find Fox News to be a complete waste of time, but if there is one journalist on the station I truly respect and admire, it is definitely Geraldo Rivera. I recently read one his books titled “Hispanic” and I began to understand the Latino point of view much better as a result. I would recommend the book for all those who want to understand immigration related issues from a Latino’s point of view –

There isn’t a nickel’s worth of news on Fox and the fact that Geraldo chooses to enable that news station with his presence is beyond my understanding. Some may say he offers balance, but hardly. Its like saying a meowing cat would offer balance to an entire herd of chattering chimps.

Not to mention that his show, last I knew is on late at night and he has to play pick and choose with so many issues, he can’t even possibly tackle all the prejudice and ignorance that flows out of Fox in a matter of a few hours, much less a 24-hour day.

I appreciate Geraldo standing up, but why doesn’t he put his principles where his mouth is and join Amy Goodman on “Democracy Now”. I mean, hasn’t he made enough money already?

Ryan the non-Aryan

Its quite unusual for Geraldo to be a host on FAUXnews network, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, a hardlined GOPsucker. For a network that is a host to various venom spewing hate machines. Geraldo may be the only talk show host on that network who isn’t so biased on most issues, but rather moderated leaner. Since I don’t watch Faux news network as much as the average joe the plumber, I would rather watch CNN Lou Dobbs over Bill O’Reily. I can’t really stand O’Reily’s constant interuption of his guests who naturally don’t agree with or share O’Reily’s views. We don’t get to hear the entire viewpoints of the other person. I guess wing-dings really like that, don’t they???–half-truths, hogwashes, and purely exaggerated hyperbole.

Steve

Geraldo Rivera is a bigot and a racist of course he would play the race card.

Snorlax

Good for Geraldo.

We have an anti-immigration radio talkshow guy here in Denver named Peter Boyles. He used to be a decent, rational guy until he started bashing immigrants.

I called his show and mentioned the fact that there are half a million WHITE illegal immigrants in the US from places like Ireland and the former Soviet bloc.

He about blew a gasket. He didn’t to hear it. He denied it.

But it’s a fact. There ARE hundreds of thousands of white people in the US illegally. Right now. Go to any Irish bar in a big US city and you’ll find them working there, I bet.

The anti-immigrant people are not really concerned about immigration laws. It is all about race to them. So they don’t want to hear about illegal whites and definitely do not want to have illegal whites deported.

beholder

Great post.

I live in Houston and witness every day the kinds of bigotry and kneejerk reactionary thinking that typify the immigration debate and detract from progress. Without living in Texas it is hard to imagine how deep the roots of hatred are entwined with politics, business and civil society here. I am very grateful to SPLC for having the courage to call attention to this.

When we put aside the hatred and prejudice for a moment, and look at the question from all its dimensions (labor, human rights, public health, taxation, criminality, racial/ethnic discrimination, etc.) the facts are evident that amnesty is the only workable solution for comprehensive immigration reform.

Interdiction is costly, disruptive and ultimately ineffectual toward addressing all the issues. Most immigrants considered “illegal” in fact came through the border legally and now have an irregular visa status, which is very different than sneaking in. Most also speak at least some English, and most pay taxes.

Brazil, that was way ahead of the rest of the world on granting immigration rights to same-sex partners, has just announced a new amnesty plan. This is proof that polity can be created to address all the dimensions of immigration for a country the size of the US, with even greater strains on social services.